Well screen



June 19, 1928.

1,674,384 c. s. WISE WELL SCREEN Filed sept. 15, 1924 2 sheets-sheet 2 Patented June 1,9, 19928.

UNITED sTATlssl CHARLES S. WISE, OF UNIVERSITY QITY, MISSOURI.

WELL SCREEN.

Application filed September 13, 1924. Serial No. 737,538.

My invention relates to improvements in well Iscreens and has for its primary object a -well screen which is provided with a large space area so as 'to permit the great water inflow and at the same time reduce the velocity of such flow to such an extent that comparatively little fore-ign matter, such as sand and the like, would pass into the screen. A further object is to construct a well l" screen which is composed of a plurality lof superimposed spaced apart rims, which screen can be built with 'any desired` length and which is rigid 4enough to prevent itscollapsing or Abulging while being forced into l5 position. s

` In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section of a well showing the manner of sinking my screen.

Fig. 2 is a similar viewV showing the screen in its final resting position.

Fig. 3 is a top plan View of the driving point with several cf the rings in position.

-. Fig. 4 is a cross section of the same taken on the line H o'Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a fragmental view of the screen with portions broken away in sections illustra-ting the manner of securing two sections of screen together with the inanner of supporting t-he screen while such connection is being made.

Fig. 6 is a fragmental View of the screen with portions broken away showing the manner of connecting the upper` pipe thereto.

Fig. 7 is a plan View of the supporting section showing the lugs which engage with the clamp.

Fig. 8 is an edge view of the same.

Fig. 9 is a fragmental perspective of.'

which one of the ring sections illustrates the manner of bevelling one edge thereof.

Fig. 10 is a bottom plan view of the protecting ring employed.

Fig. 11 is a sectional view of the same taken on the line 11-11 of Fig. 10. Fig. 12 is a top plan view of the spacer employed by the adjacent rings.

Fig. 13 is a fragmental View of several rings 5showing modified form of securing and spacing the rings.

Fig. 14 is a similar view illustrating another form of spacing the rings.

Fig. 15 is a fragmental perspective of a l' ring showing still another form ospacing the rings. v

In the construction of my device I employ a plurality of rings 16 whichare providedwith inwardly extendingv ears 17. The l vspacers 21; these spacers are of any desired thickness and control the width of the openings 22 formed between adjacent rings. The lower end of the screenis provided with a driving point 23 which flares outwardly towards the bottom and which has its lower edge 24 sharpened so as to permit it to readily pass through the water bearing Strata.

vAt a short distance below'the upper edge o f the driving point is an inwardly extending ange 25 which is provided with openings corresponding in number to the number of openings in the rings 16 and through which the bolts 19 pass. The `lower ends of the bolts 19 are screwthreaded to receive nuts 26. The driving point 23 constitutes theA lower portion of the first section and after the bolts 19 have been placed therein, a suflicient amount of rings 16 are slipped over the bolts to' build up the section to within a short distancebf the complete height, this distance being preferably about two feet. IVhen this height has been reached I next place the supporting section or ring27 in position. The construction of this ring is practically the same as the rings 16l with the exception that it is provided with outwardly extending lugs 284 which are adapted to engagewith clamps 29 for supporting the section. rings 16 after which a collarl 30.which is provided with inwardly extending fianges 31 and 32 is placed over the upper portion of the section. The bolts 19 project through the flange 31 and have located on their ends The section is then finished up with nuts 32a. by means of which the completed section is secured in position. The second set of bolts having nuts on their lower end extending upward through the flange 32 and on this the next section of screen is built.

Each screen section being approximately 10,'

upto the desired height, a collar 33 is sej ner illustrated in Fig. 6. The collar 33 has itsupper end reduced in diameter as at 34 so as to form a shoulder 35 and upon this shoulder rests the upper pipe 36 which is a plain tube and extends from a short distance above the water bearing strata to the top of the well. In sinking the screen, as will hereinafter be fully described, I use a pro# tecting ring 37 which is provided adj acent to inner and outer peripheries with depending fianges 38, these flanges forming a channel 39 into which certain of the rings 16 are permitted to pass. The ring 37 is also provided with openings 40 through which-the bolts 19 extend. The purpose of theiprotecting ring is to prevent any distortion or damage vto the rings 16 through the sinking of the screen. In Fig. 13 I have shown a modified form of screen construction wherein the rings 16 are secured together in pairs by means of rivets 41. The heads of the rivets forming the means for spacing the adjacent rings. In Fig. 14 anotherI modification is shown in which one face of each ring is provided with projections 42 which contact with the edge of adjacent rings for spacing purposes and inl Fig. l5 I have shown still another modification .of ring 111 which the ears 43 are shown wider than the ring so that when the rings are superimposed they will be held in spaced relation to each other without the rise of the spacers.

The manner of sinking my screen is as follows: g

I first sink a testhole with any suitable diameter down to the rock bed so that the depth of the earth strat-a 44, the thickness of the waterbearing strata 45 and the depth -of the bedrock 46 below the surface of the ground can be ascertained. I next dig a hole in the earth down to Nthewaterbearing strata of sand or gravel and place in this hole a casing or pipe 47. The diameter of this pipe is considerably greater than the diameter of the screen. Inext build up my first section to the desired length and lower it into the pipe 47 until such time as the lugs 28 come to rest on the clamp 29. The collar 30 is then installed as has been'previously described and a second section completed, after which the clamps 29 are released and the section lowered. This operation is continued until the driving point 23 rests on the waterbearing strata. This building up of sections is continued until the length` of the 'combined y sections is slightly greater than the thickness of the waterbearing strata. As soon as the screen has been built up sufiiciently so as to extend vsome distance above the surface of the ground,y the protecting ring 37 is placed over Y the top thereof and hooked over the protectvingring are hooks 48, which'are preferably placed diametrically opposite each other.

To these hooksare secured chains 49. Lo-y cated on each side ofthe screen is a beam 5() which is pivotedA at one end as indicated between numeral 51 to the support 52. This support is placed relatively close to the well of the links of the chain 49 and when weightl is applied to the free end ofthe beams this weight will be transferred to the screen through the chain so as to exert a downward pressure thereon. After this forcing mechanism has been attached to the screen, the gravel or sand is removed from the inside of the driving point, either by means of a baler, by means of a sand pump or air orl water jet and as the material is removed from the inside of the driving p'oint, the weight causes it to sink downward until it finally comes to rest on the bedrock. During the sinking of the screen the space between the screen and the pipe 47 is filled with gravel which has been preferably screened so as to be'substantially uniform in size. This gravel, as the material of the waterbearing strata is removed from the inside of the driving point, sinks down into the waterbearing strata as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. The

removal ofthe material through the driving point also causes the waterbearing strata surrounding the driving 'point to break down and loosen up and this loosening up is immediately again filled by the gravel in the pipe 47 so that when the well is completed, 0r rather when the driving point which is at bedrock, the screen will be surrounded by a considerable body of gravel of uniform size 'and which is closely packed, thus preventing the inflow of water from carrying any sand or similar substance into the screen. After the driving point has reached the bedrock, a quantity of cement and gravel are. placed in the screen, this cement and gravel settling to the bottom and being sufficient in quantity to completely fillA up the driving point, thus preventing any sand or gravel from entering beneath the driving point, which would be possible, owing to the irregularity of the surface of the bedrock. After the screen has'been built up sufficiently to extend a slight distance above the waterbearing strata, the fpipe36 isse]- cured to the upper end of the screenas illustling or shifting take place in thewaterbearing strata, this gravelfsinksdownand prevents the formation of water *pockets around the screen so that fat' alljtimes there The vln

will be an envelope ofgravel surrounding the screen which will lilter out any particles of solid foreign matter which might otherwisepass through the slots in the screen. The gravel in the pipe 47 also tends to hold the screen and pipe 36 against any side movement. j

.The rings out of which the sections are formed may be made of various sizes so that screens of different diameter depending on the quantity of water` required and also. on the thickness of the waterbearing strata, can be built. It is to be understood of course that after the weighted end of the beams 50 has reached is lowest point, the beams are' again to be. elevated and the chain shortened after which the end of the beam is again released and a downward pressure exerted. The rings which compose the well screen are preferably' made of cast iron as l have found that cast iron corrodes less when submerged in water than steel or similar material and being of cast iron, the screen in itself is quite heavy so that it is not necessary to use as' much mechanical force in sinking the screen as it is in the case where lighter materials are used. Furthermore, by my construction of screen, there are no weak points in the wall, which is the case where screens are made of pipe and perforated and consequentlyv there is no danger of my screen bulging or col` lapsing while it is being sunk.

Another feature of my device is that the screen is shipped to the job knocked down and the sections can be built up on the job in any desired length, this'length being determined by the length of the bolts 19.

Having fully described my invent-ion what I claim is':-

l. A well screen comprising a. plurality of superimposed ring sections having their inner and outer walls parallel, the top face of each sectionbeing at right angles to said walls and the bot-tom face of each section being upwardly and inwardly inclined throughout its width, a plurality of radially extending inwardly projecting perforated ears having parallel faces formed integral with said sections, a ring-shaped outwardly and downwardly flaring driving point having a sharpened lower edge, an inwardly projecting perforated flange integral with said point for supporting the llowermost ring section, and means passing through the perforations in the flange and ears for securing the point and sections together.

2. A well screen comprising a. plurality of superimposed ring sections having their inner and outer walls parallel, the top face of each section being at right angles to said walls and the bottom face of each section being upwardly and inwardly inclined throughout its width, a plurality of radially extending inwardly projecting perforated cars having parallel faces formed integral with said sections, a ring-shaped outwardly and downwardly larlng driving point having a sharpened lower edge, an inwardly projecting perforated flange integral with said point for supporting the lowermost ring section, means passing through the perforations in the flange and ears for securing the point and sections together, and means located between adjacent ring sections for holding the same in spaced relation to each other.

3. A well screen comprising a plurality of superimposed ring sections having their inner and outer walls parallel, the top face of each section being at right angles to said walls and the bottom face of each section being upwardly and inwardly inclined .throughout its width, a plurality of radially extending inwardly projecting perforated ears having parallel faces and of greater thickness than the width of the outer face of said sections formed integral with said sections, a ring-shaped outwardly and downwardly flaring driving point having a sharpened lower edge, an inwardly projecting perforated flange integral with said point. for supporting the lowermost ring section, and means passing through the perfoi-ations in the flange and ears for securing the point and sections together.

4. A well screen comprising a plurality of superimposed ring sections having their inner and outer walls parallel, the top face of each section being atright angles to said walls and the bottom face of each section being upwardly and inwardly inclined throughoutP its width, a plurality of radially extending inwardly projecting perforated ears having parallelfaces and of greater thickness than the width of the outer face of said sections formedintegral with said sections, a ring-shaped outwardly and downwardly flaring driving point having a sharpened lower edge, an inwardly projecting perforated flange 'integral with said point for supporting the lowermost. ring secring being at right angles to the edges and the, other arranged at an angle thereto so that the inner edge of each ring will be narrower than the other, an outwardly and downwardly iared driving point located below said screen and surrounding the lower end thereof, a collar surrounding the upper end of said section and extendingbeyond the en d of said section, and means passing through the driving point, rings and collar for securing the same together.

6. A well screen composed of sections, each section being composed of a plurality of rings having parallel inner and out edges superim posed ou each other, one face of each ring being at right angles to the edges and the otherl arranged at `an angle thereto so that the inner edge of cach ring will be narrower than `the outer, an outwardly and downwardly flared driving point located below said screen and surrounding the lower end thereof, a collar surrounding the upper end of said section and extending beyond the end of said section, means passing through the driving point, ringsand collar for securing the same together, and means between adjacent rings for holding the same in spaced relation to each other.

7 A well screen composed of sections;` each section being composed of a pluralityj of rings having parallel inner and outer edges superimposed on each other, one face of each ring being at right angles to the edges and the other arranged at an angle thereto so that the inner edge of each ring will be narrower than the outer, an outwardly and downwardly ared driving point located below said screen and surrounding the lower end thereof, a collar surrounding the upper end of said section and extending beyond the end of said section, means passing through' 8. A well screen composed of sections, each section being composed of a plurality of rings havlng parallel inner and outer edges superimposed on each other, one face of each ring being at right angles to the edges and the other arranged at an angle thereto so that the inner edge of Leach ri'ng will be narrower than the outer, an outwardly and downwardly flared driving point located below said screen and surrounding the lower end thereof, a collar surrounding the upper end of said section and extending beyond the end of said section, means passing through the driving point, rings and collar for securing the same together, means between adjacent rings for holding the same in spaced relation to each other, and outwardly extending projections formed on one of said rings whereby one of said sections can be supported against downward movement while a succeeding section is attached to said collar.

9. A ring section for well screens comprising a circular member having parallel inner and outer faces, said member having one edge at right angles to said faces and the other edge inclined so that the inner face of said member is narrower than the outer face, and a plurality of inwardly extending radially projecting perforated ears having parallel .top and bottom faces integrally formed with said circular member.

10. A ring section for well screens comprising a circular member having parallel inner and outer faces, said member having one edge at right angles to said faces and the other edge inclined so that the inner face of said member is narrower than the outer face, and a plurality of inwardly extending radially projecting perforated ears having parallel top and bottom faces integrally formed with said circular member, said ears being of greater thickness than the width of the outer face of said member.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

CHARLES s'. lwIsE 

